Defense Innovation Unit awards funding for sea-based launch pad – By Courtney Albon (Defense News) / May 28, 2024
The Defense Innovation Unit selected The Spaceport Company to demonstrate the ability to use a sea-based launch platform to quickly send cargo or satellites to orbit.
The company, headquartered in Woodbridge, Virginia, builds floating launch pads that could allow commercial companies or the Defense Department to fly payloads offshore. The concept is particularly relevant amid unprecedented launch rates, which are increasingly causing congestion at U.S. ranges.
“A sea-based launch platform is a strategically significant capability that increases equatorial launch access while enabling responsive launch coordination and avoiding high-traffic airspace,” DIU said in a May 28 statement announcing the deal.
The award is part of a DIU effort called Novel Responsive Space Delivery, which aims to prototype commercial solutions that support responsive and precise space launch capabilities. That could include using a rocket to send cargo from one point on Earth to another, between two satellites in orbit, or from one location in space to another.
